Being named captain is an honour and a privilege at any football club, with the trust and expectation given toward a player to lead their team through the season. However, down at Arden Street, the title of captain means something much more terrifying for North Melbourne supporters.
In the last 15 years, there has been a pattern of North Melbourne skippers significantly dropping off in form after being given the captaincy. With at least its last five captains becoming a shell of their former selves, one can't help but think that the pressure of the position is too much for the shinboner spirit to handle.
I'm talking here about not just downward spirals of statistics that reflect on the stat sheet, but the amount of effort and impact these captains seem not to show when elevated to the expectation that they should lead the team to winning. Knowing what North's ‘winning image' is now in the 21st century, it's hard not to put some of the blame on who's leading the charge.
Andrew Swallow (2012-2016)
Swallow was always a great tackler who was known as a ‘tough player'. But his impact offensively and ability to kick the ball straight remained a detriment to his game and aspects that would continue to decline the longer he was captain.
His 2012 season remains an outlier in this captain drop-off , with Swallow polling the most Brownlow votes out of any North player and being given his 3rd and last best and fairest medal.
It wasn't until the following season the cracks started to take form, starting with his tackling taking a dip to ninth in the competition, down from being second.
To put it simply, he wasn't a winning player and was fortunate enough to play around some of North's most competitive teams during the mid-2010's.
With the 2014, 2015 and 2016 seasons showing finals success for North Melbourne and even being one game behind a Grand Final twice, Swallow would decline in disposal and clearances after each year until he retired after 224 games. He went from a promising, gritty energizer in the midfield during his early years to a turnover machine and liability during North's year of finals footy.
